Social Justice Implications

Social work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people as expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights(1948) It is therefore of paramount importance that a social work professional should work towards promoting the best interests of individuals and groups in society. I very much recognize the contribution that social work brings to inclusion having worked alongside social workers during the course of my shadowing placement. I possess a real commitment to promote equality which I have had the pleasure of doing in a multitude of different roles. From academic journals as well as my lecture notes I now appreciate the central importance of using the fundamental principles of human rights and equality to underpin my practice, and the inherent need to promote justice in relation with the people I will work.

I know that my vision of justice is smaller in scale than what this MSW program seems to be advocating. However, I see the value in attending to the immediate needs of my clients because worrying about whether or not they can eat or where they can live cannot be forgotten in the struggle toward equality for all. Ever since I wanted to become a social worker, I am very aware that my passion in social work lies in direct practice with Filipino youth and their families. While I understand that there will be times when advocacy is needed, I see advocacy as an addition to what I truly want to do in social work. There are several strengths to performing social justice within a smaller sphere and employing both individual and group empowerment. One can see immediate changes in the quality of services to clients. Cohesion and relationship building with fellow social workers should be a priority because if you cannot even trust your coworkers, being able to advocate together with the community would not be possible due to infighting over the goals. This smaller approach takes into account that limited funding and too many caseloads makes grand gestures for social justice are not feasible to the majority of social workers. I do see the limitations of a smaller approach, however. Namely, the progress toward social justice is slower and more minimal to existing structures. As well, much more energy is expended to sustain the small forms of resistance (Smith,

The role of social work professionals in aiding those in poverty, is to the Code’s principles of Social Justice. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), “Beneath this practicality lies a strong value system that can be summarized in two words: social justice. “Social workers can often liaise with advocacy groups in local, state, and national jurisdiction to assist specific vulnerable populations” (Jansson,

“Hidden Figures” is where three women are passed as just one race and they persevered against the peoples odds. These women became a big part of history and culture, like Mary Jackson was the first African American Engineer to graduate from an all white school. Women were facing as great amount of discrimination during the 1950s. “Hidden Figures” highlights the importance points that provides us with gender roles. “Hidden Figures” is a powerful example of issues within social justice.

I did some research on social justice competencies and today I am going to discuss with you my findings. I am going to talk about why social justice matters, social justice with counselors and counseling psychologists, social justice competencies with group workers, and social justice paradigm. Social justice is the opinion of which every person ought to have equal rights and chances whether they be financial, governmental or social. Human service helper’s goal is to unlock the gates to gain accessibility and chance for every person, especially the ones that need it the most. A quick look at the various functions of human service helpers displays in what way this worth system gives emphasis to all that they do. Human service helpers will aid their homeless clients to obtain government assistance, food share, and care for their wellbeing. Human service helpers thrive to defend and safeguard their elderly client’s economic right and guarantee the client is getting the health and economic advantages that lawfully belong to them. Human service helpers furthermore utilize social-justice values and beliefs to underlying issues in the human service organizations where they are employed. ("Social Justice," n.d.)

CNN, Fox News, USA Today. These mainstream outlets are popular for a reason. As a convenience for American citizens, to have news literally projected on television is a luxury. Not just any sort of news - a wide variety of topics such as politics, entertainment, economics and sports are projected twenty four hours per day, seven days a week. According to the Pew Research Center, writers Kenneth Olmstead, Mark Jurkowitz, Amy Mitchell and Jodi Edna report that, “Almost three out of four U.S adults (71%) watch local and network television news … on average, the cable news audience devotes twice as much time to that news source as local and network news”(Olmstead et al). In other words, not only do the majority of Americans spend time watching

Undoubtedly, health care is a social justice issue, because it is the product of unequal distribution of wealth and health care resources. Associatively, Barusch (2015) claims that in the United States, “the distribution of health care makes life itself a social justice issue and survival becomes a function of privilege, as class, race, and gender influence the risk of becoming ill and the likelihood of receiving appropriate treatment” (p.193). In my opinion, there are many reasons health care should be addressed as a social justice issue; 1) poor health is often the product of the “deprivations of severe poverty”, 2) without legislation, disease of epidemic proportions will go unreported due to their economic impact, 3) physician incentive plans jeopardize patient care, 4) the lack of pharmaceutical company regulations, limit the availability of affordable treatments (generics), . . .

Fear and cruelty are the weapons of animals, not humanity, and social injustices derive from fear-the masked ego of one who has sustained through power: white power. It is only fair to continue to talk about social injustice by defining what is social justice. Social justice embodies a framework (and certainly not limited to) a community, a united nation, equitable in standing together in belief and acceptance of diversity; equality; freedom; and equal opportunity to income and its privileges. Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America proclaims that "a house divided cannot stand." I believe President Lincoln is correct with his statement, if the "house" is not endowed in a universal cause and foundation, then the infrastructure is faulty and will collapse. Here is how this connects to social justice, if that same "house" is not socially just, separation will impel and will cause dilapidation within the foundation. This paper will implement foci on Michelle Alexander 's (The New Jim Crow) approach of the social issue of a "new Jim Crow" system of mass incarceration in a colorblind society, and Barbara Ehrenreich 's (Nickle and Dimed) notion to the social injustice that derives from a capitalistic driven society that undermines the working lower-class men and women. With the forth

One of those social changes is inclusive of equality. Racial equality issues can be found on the micro, mezzo, and macro level in social work. A black young woman entering college at a prestigious institution of higher learning may experience racism at an all-time high. She may be asked offensive questions about her race because individuals are not knowledge about blacks, or their only interaction is the media. Another issue can be that individuals have already negatively labeled her. As a social worker this student can be empowered. She can be told that her race will cause her to stand out in her current surroundings; however, she can use that to her advantage. She can be seen, stand out, and turn her negative situation into positive ones by always being prepared and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. She can also help correct the negative and unknowing attitudes about her race. As a black young woman she may always have to prove herself, which is something no one else will have to do; however she can prove their accusation wrong. A long as she loves herself and empowers herself, and her community she will be

Social justice and inclusion have become important parts of the modern world, especially within the Scottish education system. They allow pupils to reach their full potential and to become fully integrated whilst at school, regardless of background or disability. However these terms are ever changing and require a lot of thought and determination to be fully fulfilled within schools. This paper will look at the importance of social justice and inclusion as well as considering different views on the topics. It will also focus on the teacher’s role in achieving an inclusive environment within school and the implications for learning.

‘Social justice ... is neither the exclusive terrain of social welfare nor of crime control. Indeed, the boundaries between these two domains tend to be mobile and porous’ (Book 1, Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society, p. 168).

The Social Justice value of Social Work represents a person who supports ethnic and racial diversity. Social Justice represents a person who fights for those who are discriminated against, those who have been denied equal opportunity, and those who have different traits from the rest of us. To practice the value of Dignity and Worth of a person means a person needs to be respectful to others. A social worker who needs to stay true to all the values and ethical principles of social work. Above all else it means for social workers to help those in need. Lastly, the Importance of Human Relationships speaks for itself. It teaches social workers to be aware of all factors, like the environment, which is the primary cause of conflict. The value teaches social workers how to strengthen human relationships in order to bring unity among those who need it.

The notion of justice is existence of proper balance of rights and its access under the laws of land. It refers to not depriving any person from availing privileges, opportunities etc. John Rawls writes, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override"It means that the interaction in a society must be free from any sort of discrimination such as religion, race, color, caste or sex. It ensures fair distribution of assets and equal opportunity. José P. Laurel defines Social Justice as “Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the state so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

According the National Association of Social Workers: Code of Ethics, it is the responsibility of a social worker to challenge social injustice. Social injustice, according to the dictionary, is described as unfair treatment, a situation where the rights of a person or group is ignored (Dictionary,2015). Reflecting on what I have been told in practice class, I feel that addressing social injustice will be a challenge. This will be challenging because I strive to treat each person that I encounter with dignity and respect but, I know that there are many social injustices that individuals faced on a daily bases. I strive to be a person of good moral faith so addressing social injustice issues will affect my personal opinions of people, which I will work on so that I will not be biased.

Social work supports the use an ecological and systems approach to help people with their problems, however for a long time no one paid much attention to the earth. Environmental justice also shines a light on racism and economic injustice. Look at places like Flint, where poor mostly black people were drinking lead-laced water.